


Operation Happy Birthday

by my_favorite_sandwich



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:27:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_favorite_sandwich/pseuds/my_favorite_sandwich
Summary: An AU where Will & Nico are newly dating and Will just wants to make Nico’s birthday special.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Kudos: 18





	Operation Happy Birthday

Will cannot wait for Nico’s birthday. 

It has only been a few weeks since they officially started dating. They are still in their honeymoon period where everything is new and exciting and as far as he is concerned, every interaction is played out through a proverbial dream lens. He’s loving every minute getting to know the beautiful hot-headed Italian; every late night talk, each new “first,” discovering his quirks, likes and dislikes. Even though it’s still brand new, he realizes he’s never felt this way about someone before — and no one has made him feel so understood, so attractive or so seen.

Now that winter break is over and Will is finishing up his last year in med school, he is insanely busy with classes, internships and studying, but he still does his best to squirrel away pockets of time to spend with his boyfriend. They do their best to meet for coffee every morning — and Will will swing by Nico’s apartment when he has a spare hour or two (Nico is a musician and freelance designer and has a more flexible schedule). Still, Will laments that they haven’t really had time for elaborate dates and grand gestures.

So when he learns that Nico’s birthday is coming up, he cannot wait for the opportunity to shower attention on his Death Boy. He wants to get him a gift that screams, “I Will, see you, Nico — and deserve to hold the esteemed position of your boyfriend.”

It doesn’t seem like it should be that difficult, however he currently has no idea what that gift is. He knows the plan will definitely include a meal even though it’s a little cliche and he’s a terrible cook. Maybe a nice restaurant…?

He goes to bed that night mentally replaying their entire relationship searching for clues about what might spark joy in his boyfriend. He lands on music, pastries, something artsy. He looks at the clock at 3 a.m. still buzzing with excitement, but decides he needs to go to sleep, hoping his subconscious might winnow out some deep seated gift ideas.

——

“Jesus, what happened to you?” Nico asks when he spies his boyfriend at their morning coffee spot, head bobbing as he tries to stay awake. 

Will knows he looks pathetic. He needs at least 6 hours of sleep a night to feel human. At this moment he can barely keep his eyes open. He’s not sure how he’s going to get through a day of classes or his shift at the hospital. He sets his gaze on his coffee as he methodically stirs, “I couldn’t sleep,” he explains cryptically. “I had stuff on my mind.”

“Care to share?” 

“Not really…” he says yawning. Nico just raises an eyebrow. He usually can’t shut his boyfriend up when he’s thinking about something.

“Okay, but if you want to talk…I’m here for you.”

Will just takes another gulp from his coffee cup and slaps his cheeks repeatedly as if that might kick start his energy.

— — 

Continuing Operation Happy Birthday, Will decides to bypass his boyfriend’s apartment that day so he can stop by his friend Lou’s on the way home. She lets him into her small apartment and he launches into his request. “Lou…I want to give Nico his best birthday gift ever. You’re always thoughtful in your gift giving, got any pointers?” Will pleads, throwing himself on her couch and helping himself to the open bag of chips next to him on her coffee table.

“Mmmm” she hums, “Flattery will get you everywhere.” 

“He likes that nerdy Mythomagic game, right? What about something there?”

“Oh everyone he knows that and has given him everything there is to give on that front.”

“Okay,” she continues. “He’s a musician…Are there any shows coming up you could take him too?”

“Oh that’s good! That’s really good,” Will sits up excitedly removing his phone from his pocket and starts scrolling upcoming shows.

“What about something special…that only you can give,” she says with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk.

“Well duh,” Will says rolling his eyes, his lips turning up in a smile, “but I think that’s more icing than a main gift.” 

“Well that’s all I got,” she says with finality. “If something hits me I’ll let you know.”

———

Will is so excited he feels like he’s vibrating. He’s had to avoid his and Nico’s morning coffee dates because he knows he’s not going to be able to keep his surprise a secret if he sees his boyfriend. Luckily he only has one more day until the big reveal.

Thanks to Lou Ellen, he looked up shows and found that one of Nico’s favorite bands is coming to town. His friend Cecil was able to pull some strings (somehow the guy always has strings to pull) and get them up front. The venue just so happens to be around the corner from the ramen spot where he and Nico hang out before they became official.

He’s returning home from an indie bookstore in Brooklyn that had a special edition illustrated version of a mythology book autographed by the author. While there, he also picked up some Italian pastries from a mom-and-pop Italian bakery nearby.

Everything is lining up perfectly and Will can’t wait to see Nico’s face when he presents him with his gifts.

He sets everything on his kitchen table, checks his phone and sees that he has missed three texts from Nico. Will grabs himself a hot cup of tea and gets ready to call his boyfriend when he hears a sharp rapping at his door. 

“Nico! What are you doing here!?” He beams, motioning his boyfriend inside. His smile fades when he sees his boyfriend is not alright. The bags under his eyes are dark and prominent, his cute bow lips are pinched in a thin line and his whole body is rigid.

“What the fuck, Will?” Nico blurts out, his voice higher than normal and strained. “You’ve been avoiding me for over a week! Are you trying to break up with me?”

Will’s eyes snap open in horror as he shakes his head back and forth so intensely he might have whiplash, “GOD NO! Nico…I’d NEVER!” And then wraps his smaller boyfriend into his chest, peppering the top of his head with kisses. 

“I’m so, so sorry Nico…I didn’t even realize!” He starts talking into his hair a mile a minute. “I’ve been so preoccupied with your birthday present that I didn’t even think about what my actions must look like to you.”

Nico steps back from Will’s embrace looking dumbfounded. “Ummm….what?”

He takes a breath and covers his face with his hands and drops down into the sofa. “God I’m such an idiot! You mean so much to me and I’ve been so excited to get you something that shows how amazing you are….I’ve been avoiding you because I didn’t want to accidentally blurt something out and ruin the surprise…but I didn’t even think about what it might look like to you.”

Nico takes a seat next to his boyfriend and looks down at his lap, sighing deeply, “I guess I sort of jumped to the worst possible conclusion.” Then continues, “It’s just…I’ve never really been in a relationship like this before…and things this good don’t usually happen to me. I guess part of me is just waiting for it to all fall apart.”

Will grabs his boyfriend’s hands, completely encasing them in his own. “Nico, will you please look at me? I know we’ve only been dating a couple of weeks, but just know that I’m in this. Like…all the way in.”

When Nico looks into his boyfriend’s blue-blue eyes full of love and adoration and maybe a little bit of fear — he can’t help but believe him.

Will slumps over. “I feel like such an asshole. No birthday present is going to make up for the hell I’ve put you through this last week,” he says with a frown.

“As long as you’re not ghosting me, I think I’d be happy with just about anything.”

Will heads to his kitchen table and opens the box of pastries and takes two out handing one to his boyfriend and taking a nibble at the other.

Nico looks at the flaky pastry dusted in powdered sugar with wide eyes, “Is this a Sfogliatella?”

“It sure is, darlin’.” The blond says with a bright smile. The smile shifts to something more predatory, “and there’s more sugar where that came from.”

And with that, he pulls his boyfriend close, leaving a sugary kiss on his upturned lips.


End file.
